Reincarnated as the Villainess... Yeah, I'm Doomed

Chapter Thirty- Eight: The Truth

"Nabiyre!" I greeted my friend excitedly, wrapping the young woman in a warm hug. 

"It looks great here," I smiled, glancing around her knew apartment. After the fire that burned down the tenements last winter, Caden had "persuaded" the town's presiding count to fund the rebuilding of the tenements. Now, not only were the rooms bigger, but there was plumbing, affordable rent, and fire prevention measures. Even though these were all recommendations I had made, I had no idea that Caden would make sure to include each one. It seemed that the fire had weighed heavy on his heart as well. As nobles, we should not have allowed for such a disaster to take place. 

"Miss Callista! Miss Callista!" Ahta shouted, running up to me and hugging my mid section. He had grown yet again, now reaching just below my shoulders. 

"Guess what I heard. I heard a girl saying that she saw you dancing, but you weren't just dancing you were swinging swords and jumping, and fire, like WAAHH-" 

Ahta's words failed him as he began to jump around the apartment, swinging invisible swords with a large grin on his face. 

"Also, also Mr. Philip." Ahta shouted, running up to the prince after his rendition of my performance at the festival. Prince Philip and Ryland had joined me on my trip to the tenements, both just as curious to see how the tenements were doing after the fire. 

"Someone said that Mr. Caden kicked your butt!" He cheered, sending the rest of the room into a fit of laughter as Nabiyre scolded her confused son. Prince Philip only smiled, looking at the young boy with an expression of defeat. It seemed that the prince was still unable to win against Ahta. 

Meanwhile, Thii had worked her way into the arms of Ryland, playing with the stiff knight's hair as he held her. The shy girl had taken a liking to Ryland and clung to him each time he came to visit. 

"Alright, I'll let you guys talk for a bit while I set up our supplies. Lady Atlee, Vin, would you help me?" Connor asked, stepping out of the room. Now that our usual party of four had been joined by the prince, Ryland, and Lady Atlee, the number of guest were a bit overwhelming. 

After they went to set up the medical tent for the checkups, Ryland was dragged over to play with the kids while Prince Philip and I sat down to drink tea with Nabiyre. I was still a bit rusty when it came to the Cynth language, so it was nice to have the prince help me with some of the more complex words. 

"Hey," I whispered to Prince Philip as Nabiyre went to fetch the tea. 

"I have a few questions, but the vocabulary is a bit difficult, could you help me?" 

"Yeah, what do you want to know?" Prince Philip offered, puffing out his chest a little. I rarely asked for help, so when I did, the prince struggled to hide his excitement and pride at my requests. 

I explained to Prince Philip about the situation that had taken place at the hospital on the night of the fire. A woman had grabbed both Elaine and I's hands, calling us the daughters of the Phoenix. While I could have ignored her words, passing them off as an old woman's rambling, I couldn't let go of her using the term "Phoenix". In my past life, the Phoenix was a mythical creature that symbolized rebirth, which definitely pertained to Elaine and I's circumstances. So I decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to look into it. 

When I asked my Magical Beasts professor about the mythical bird, he was caught by surprise. Apparently, the the Phoenix did in fact exist in this world, but it was rarely mentioned because few knew about it. He didn't know much about the bird either, except for the fact that they were worshipped in ancient Cynth legends.